Rovio Entertainment hits €76 million in first-quarter sales

by Dominique Chopper

Rovio Entertainment Oyj backed up full-year guidance on Friday after reporting a better-than-expected first-quarter net profit.
The Finnish company behind the Angry Birds mobile game franchise agreed to a 706 million euro ($778.8 million) takeover deal from Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. earlier this month.
Rovio CEO Alex Pelletier-Normand said: “For now, we continue to work as usual day-to-day, operating and improving our live games, while creating ambitious and innovative new titles for our players.”
“Looking ahead, we remain confident in our standalone strategy; however, combining the strengths of Rovio and Sega presents an incredibly exciting future.”
Rovio reported a net profit of 7.3 million euros, compared with 5.5 million euros a year earlier, as revenue fell 11 percent to 76 million euros.
FactSet analysts expected a net profit of 6.6 million euros. The company-compiled consensus put sales at 77.6 million euros.
Rovio said it still expects full-year comparable revenue and adjusted operating profit to remain at 2022 levels.
It said user acquisition investments — advertising and marketing costs to attract players — fell 23 percent to 23.9 million euros in the quarter, while gross bookings fell to 72 million euros from 80.8 million euros. Gross bookings represent in-app purchases and in-app advertising sales.
It said user acquisition investments in the second quarter are expected to account for 27% to 32% of gaming revenue.
 
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com